The International Association of Amateur Heralds

Latest news from Ottawa : Dr Claire Boudreau steps down as Chief Herald of Canada, after thirteen years in office. Dr Samy Khalid, Saguenay Herald, has been appointed as the new Chief Herald. Dr Boudreau has been appointed Margaree-Chéticamp Herald Emeritus.


These are Dr Boudreau's arms, granted in 2004, with supporters added in 2011. There are no arms for Dr Khalid in the online register as yet.

On one of the FB Heraldic forums, someone noted that one individual named Khalid does have arms in the Canadian Public Register. I don't know how to cut & paste them here (hopefully some can).

Don't know if, or how, that Khalid armigerous may be related to the new Chief.

Apparently Prof Mohammed Ben Miloud Khalid, who was granted arms in 1992, is the new Chief Herald's father. These are the arms :

Details and design rationale can be found here.

Could the new Chief Herald bear those with a label? Seems that would look rather "busy".

Cameron Campbell wrote:Could the new Chief Herald bear those with a label? Seems that would look rather "busy".

As the son is now Chief Herald, I suspect he may, as a lad, have had a hand in the original design (in which case part of the responsibility for "busyness" is his own).

He has had several options:
1) bite the bullet and add a label,
2) ignore English marks of cadency and follow one of the modern Canadian versions of cadency,
3) design his own completely different arms,
and surely plumped for one or the other several years ago.

As no-one here or on Facebook seems yet to have ferreted out what Dr K's arms actually are, we shall have to wait (im)patiently to find out. I am sure that at some stage we shall be vouchsafed of the CHA's official rendering of the Chief Herald's arms impaled with his personal arms.

Chris Green wrote:As the son is now Chief Herald, I suspect he may, as a lad, have had a hand in the original design (in which case part of the responsibility for "busyness" is his own).

He did indeed have a hand in designing the arms. He is credited on the online register page, and it has been mentioned in a FB post too.

Taken from the CHA Facebook page:

"It is with a very heavy heart that we share news of the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Claire Boudreau.
Claire joined the Canadian Heraldic Authority as the Saguenay Herald in 1997 after completing a doctorate at the Sorbonne, in Paris. Serving as Saint-Laurent Herald (2000-2007), Deputy Chief Herald (2005-2007), and Chief Herald of Canada (2007-2020), she was made Margaree-Chéticamp Herald Emeritus in 2020. While her influence on Canadian heraldry was immense, she also made notable contributions at the international level and had the distinction of being the first woman appointed as chief herald in the Commonwealth. Noted as an author and a lecturer, Claire also initiated the online Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada, and she was responsible for many beautifully innovative heraldic designs.
Claire embraced her role with enthusiasm, passion, and dedication. She was a dear friend to her colleagues at the CHA, the OSGG, and to many across Canada and the world. She will be greatly missed."